I used to call this blog "Improve. Every. Day." For awhile, I was improving every day. But, as you grow to be more mature and the surroundings and circumstances of life tell you your greater purpose, you have to answer the call. I have been inspired by the life of Joseph Vincent Paterno, and the incomprehensible impact he made on the world. I simply live now for two purposes - to do what's right, and impact the world every day.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Days 15 & 16: Something Different

I said I was going to do something different today... I'll get to that in a moment. Yesterday was pretty exhausting, so I didn't have much to post about. Worked a pretty hectic shift from 9:30 to 4:10 at work (since my 4:00 doesn't understand the meaning of punctuality), then I rushed home and sold my Ampeg bass cabinet that I've been trying to get rid of for three years for a whole $600. That will fund my Red Sox/Phillies trip this week, and the 4x10" bass cabinet that I'm buying for playing in downtown bars this fall... I needed something much more portable. I decided to watch Inception yesterday, because it's on our HBO on-demand, and I've been absolutely captivated by "Time" from the Inception soundtrack. It's just an unbelievable work of music. Hans Zimmer is a genius. YouTube it, and listen to it when you have nothing else going on, maybe right before bed, during a sunset, sunrise, or whatever, trust me - you'll enjoy it.

Anyway, today I slept until noon (because I could), got 11 hours of sleep, then got in a fairly acceptable lift at the gym. I worked upper body. My shoulder was giving me some grief today but I worked through it and after a set or two it loosened up and didn't bother me at all. Tomorrow I'll start taking a new supplement to help boost recovery time (if it shows up in the mail) - I'll write about it if it's anything worth raving about, until then I'll leave it unnamed. I got home, did some yardwork, moved about a ton or two of rocks (not all at once, of course!), and then worked on what I'm about to post here below.

The past two summers I've done about a dozen flips (meaning one dozen each summer) on grass between May and August. That's all I do on grass outside of Beaver Stadium, believe it or not. I have a trampoline that I work on "air sense" things on, but all of my training is done with running/jumping with ankle weights and my body vest to build up my leg strength (see: plyometrics), elliptical work for cardio, and stretching to prevent injury. The flip is all about "air sense" and nailing the routine down. So, when I do decide to do flips, I always videotape them, and then review the tape. I need to get as much out of every practice session as possible, to lower the stress on my knees and joints. So, here's a treat below, a broken-down "film session" on the flip. I cut out the strut because the camera would be too far away to see the rest of everything clear enough. Enjoy.

So there you have it. Tomorrow I'll be teaching my first instrumental music lesson of my life, a sophomore alto sax player from the high school that I graduated from. I guess you could say my career is starting... I'm a little nervous, but I have a lot of things planned out to fill the entire hour, and then some. After that I'm going to my best bro from home's house to lay out on his dock and tan a bit and catch up on life. I'll be packing for Philly and getting to sleep early - so I probably will not be posting until late Wednesday when I get home from the game. Go Sox.